when they are underwater on one breath of air. if you come back up before you make your move, you forfeit. they use magnetic pieces. i don't know what could be more sexy than intellectual bros in spe speedos. thanks for joining us. "at this hour" starts right now. hello. i'm ryan nobles in today for kate bolduan. it's a busy morning in the russia investigation. on capitol hill, a justice department official who is a frequent target of president trump is testifying behind closed doors. how lawmakers are expected to grill bruce ohr about his ties to chris for steetopher steele compiled the dossier on trump. there's a lot on the line for ohr since the president threatened to pull his security

clearance. this more than, paul manafort's lawyers are back in court to prepare for his next trial. this as we learn the former trump campaign chairman sought a plea deal to avoid a second grueling court battle. we have more on the manafort case. let's begin with jessica schneider who has more on what's happening with bruce ohr. what exactly are house investigators trying to learn from bruce ohr today? >> conservatives on capitol hill, they say they want the truth from bruce ohr. how freedom caucus chairman mark meadows says he has more than 60 questions for the veteran of the justice department. of course, republicans have been digging in on bruce ohr for more than a year now. the president himself has ramped up the rhetoric in recent weeks, threatening to revoke ohr's security clearance. what's the big issue? bruce ohr met multiple times with christopher steele. steele, of course, is the former british spy who drafted that dossier with unverified details

about donald trump during the election. republicans, they have been raising issues about the timing of the meetings. they are saying that those meetings often occurred around crucial milestones in the early days of the russia investigation, including when court warrants were secured. they want to know why ohr met with steele at all, especially after the fbi t i terminated it relationship with the former british spy. it started around 9:00 a.m. it could prove to be a long and contentious day for bruce ohr. he is still employed at the doj. he was demote affidavit some of the details about the meet wing with christopher steele became known. we will look for more information. this is behind closed doors. >> a lot of it behind closed doors. how much will we learn? let's get back to the manafort case. what do we know about his efforts to get a plea deal? >> this was first reported by "the wall street journal." they say that paul manafort, his

team were in brief discussions with the special counsel, with robert mueller and his team about a possible plea deal to avoid a second trial. not a lot is known of exactly what the prosecutors, the special counsel was looking for. it appears at the very least that this was not some kind of a flip deal. this wasn't to gain his cooperation or anything like that. it was simply, it appears, at this point, that it was to sort of avoid a second trial. of course, as we know, manafort had been convicted, facing a substantial amount of time in jail, perhaps the rest of his life. really, a second trial even if he is convicted wouldn't necessarily add anything to his jail time or his sentence. perhaps prosecutors and the defense teams were trying to avoid another trial. the other thing that's important here, ryan, is that if paul manafort was to plead guilty like what we saw in the michael cohen case last week, he would have to stand up in court and

admit to some of the crimes. there could be issues about what paul manafort exactly wants to admit to and how he would admit to. that could be one of the sticking points. for now at the very least, what we do know is none of this is progressing and none of this is happening. we do expect his second trial to begin later in september. >> thank you. a lot to unpack now. joining me to discuss this, joey jackson, a cnn legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, and jackie cosinich. joey, let's start with you. "the wall street journal" saying manafort seeking a plea deal before the trial. is this a sign that he may be open to the idea of flipping? is he just pessimistic about his chances in the second trial? >> i don't think it's about a plea deal at all. look at this and look at it not only from a legal but a political perspective. you have a president of the united states who has given the indication he admires his loyalty and that he's a good man and he feels very sad for him.

i think those are all signs that relate to a pardon. to crack at this point after you have been found guilty of eight different counts, i think, would not be in his best interest. i think this is more of taking a stake of should we be moving forward. not only on his lawyers' part but on the part of the justice department. you already have your guilty verdict, even the not guilty verdicts that he was found not guilty of, those could be included, believe it or not, in his sentencing. so why should there be another trial? i think they are trying to get a sense of whether it's relevant to move forward. >> you don't think he is less hopeful that a pardon can come? >> i don't see it. at this point, what would be -- if he doesn't get pardoned, his life is in jeopardy. he faces a life sentence for what he was convicted. to say i'm going ing ting to c doesn't make sense to me. >> there's been many reports from inside the white house that the president was very concerned

about this first manafort trial. we are about to go through another one in a few weeks. what's the level of concern for the white house about going through this process again? >> i think just having this person that was so close to the campaign again stand trial is never really a good thing for the white house. it reminds people that this occurred. that said, i think joey is right. i don't know that they are concerned about manafort flipping at this point. especially because the president has said such nice words about manafort. you had manafort's lawyer say manage to the effect of, it's nice to know we have the president's support. wink, nod. you know, i just -- i don't know there's going to be as much concern about this one as there was, perhaps, in the last one other than the fact it resurfaces everything. >> "the wall street journal" also brought robert mueller into this conversation, that he was raising concerns about this

possible plea deal. >> listen, the fact is that robert mueller is riding high. why? because look at all the results he accomplished. the second shoe hasn't dropped as to whether there's collusion. everyone is waiting to see whether there's any russia connection. he has his guilty verdict. he got that. now going into this particular trial, the issue now becomes -- he is propelled by the guilty verdict he secured. what now is left for him? you have a person who is obviously declared guilty. what more do you want out of that? i think robert mueller has bigger fish to fry at this point as it relates to the immunity deals. we know about the pecker deal as it relates to the "national enquirer." we know about the weisselberg deal. >> the other big thing in washington today, bruce ohr appearing before the house intelligence committee. he has become the conservative

media's latest punching bag. his name comes up often. what exactly was his role with the russia investigation? is any of this criticism warranted? >> he is a bureaucrat at the department of justice. he had some contact with christopher steele and rod rosenstein was his supervisor. what democrats will tell you is that this is republicans trying to really make up for the fact that this is a conspiracy theory and hasn't yielded results for them. republicans are saying this guy has questions to answer as to why he was involved with christopher steele. his wife nellie also the president treated about her worked for fusion gps. republicans have a lot of questions about that. this is -- should be noted that house republicans are coming back to d.c. for this closed door meeting. this isn't necessarily something that's part of the regular session. they are out of session right now. we will have to see what comes of this.

this is a very -- the house is broken down, this has broken down to partisan battle lines. don't think you will get a lot of consensus on this. >> wonder how fruitful these talks will be. let's talk about lindsey graham, he is making the rountd rounds morning television. he said after the midterms that jeff sessions should be replaced. listen to what he said this morning. >> nobody is going to take jeff's place that doesn't commit to the senate and the country as a whole that mueller will be allowed to finish his job without political interference. >> donald trump hears that and thinks, maybe jeff sessions should stick around? >> i have learned not to predict what the president is going to do. i have to say. it also should be noted that senators aren't happy with jeff sessions for something having nothing to do with robert mueller. they are not happy that his thwarting criminal justice reform.

you had senator grassley say something to the effect of i helped him save his job and now he is doing this to us. we can't take that out of the fact that they are not happy with jeff sessions either for a completely different reason. the other thing is, to get confirmed through the senate, i don't know if an attorney general can make that promise that mueller will be able to do his job. especially if it's someone that's a little bit less -- that's a little more loyal to the president on this particular topic. that's going to be a very tough thing to promise to that senate panel. >> one other big russia piece of news today. rudy giuliani telling cnn that trump's legal team hasn't heard from robert mueller in three weeks, despite the fact they offered a counterproposal to his interview request. >> i think the special counsel have come to the recognition that trump potentially is not having a word to say. i think people know that if he does say something -- you heard giuliani refer to a perjury trap. that special counsel has a lot of information. what can trump give them?

state of mind. that's what he was thinking. we could read his state of mind based upon his tweets, his anger and other things. there's no way that trump goes down and sits with the special counsel. it would be bad for him. it would be bad certainly for any future that he has as it relates to potential impeachment. it doesn't make sense. the special counsel recognizes that it's not going to happen. >> thank you for joining us. you did a great job putting up with these two guys from the state university of new york. we handled everything all right. >> any time. >> thanks. coming up, the reaction to the death of senator john mccain moments ago. defense secretary mattis praised mccain for representing all of the ideals america stands for. more tributes are expected soon from the senate floor. plus, north korea now warning the united states that talks over the nuclear program could fall apart. why? stay with us.

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sleonly remfresh usesep one in threeion-powered melatonin to deliver up to 7 hours of sleep support. number one sleep doctor recommended remfresh - your nightly sleep companion. north korea says talks about denuclearization are on the verge of collapse because the u.s. isn't meeting expectations on moving forward with a peace treaty. sources familiar with the situation came the warning came in a letter delivered to mike pompeo. that led president trump to cancel the trip to pyongyang. joining me now is core sporespo will ripley. what did the letter say? >> this letter was reported by josh rogan, our colleague, who says it was delivered to secretary pompeo and passed to president trump and then decided it was bad enough they should cancel pompeo's trip hours before he was supposed to get on

the plane with his new special envoy for north korean affairs. the essence is this. the north koreans feel the denuclearization talks may fall apart and that if they were to fall apart, the north koreans could go back to the activities they had been engaging in before this short and fragile period of diplomacy. the reason as you mentioned, is this issue of the peace treaty. the north koreans think the peace treaty should come up front to give security guarantees to kim jong-un. there are many in the administration that feel a peace treaty should come near the end of the process after north korea handed over a significant portion of its arsenal. that's what appears to derail the process all together. >> it seems like a significant divide. you have covered the kim regime for some time.

what's your take on what north korea is up to here? >> at this point, if you look at where they were before diplomacy began and where they would be if things were to fall apart with the united states, they now have a better relationship than in years with china. china's president is expected to visit north korea very soon. south korea's president is expected to travel to pyongyang for another summit with kim jong-un. "the washington post" is reporting that there may be a growing divide between the u.s. and its key ally, south korea, over how to handle pyongyang. could north korea have driven a went between seoul and washington? now that china and north korea are getting along well, the economic pressure has been eased. could the u.s. even go back to the maximum pressure campaign if it wanted to given president trump last week talked about the fact that china isn't cooperating anymore? frankly, the answer is, no. the pressure doesn't work without china. north korea has gained a lot. by the way, they still have all the nuclear weapons in their arsenal they had at the beginning of the process that

the u.s. insisted they must not have. >> no doubt, we are a long way from the success that president trump was heralding after the summit. much has changed. will ripley, live from hong kong. thank you. coming up, new details on president trump's belated statement honoring the life of senator john mccain. a source says white house ins e insiders helped convince to have a change of heart. we will have that next. an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase sensimist relieves your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. it helps block six key inflammatory substances. most pills block one. flonase sensimist.

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my deepest condolences to his family for a loss of a man who represented all the ideals america stands for. senator john mccain was a man who served his country honorably as a naval officer, as a defiant prisoner of war standing with his brothers in arms until all returned home together, and as a leader in congress, including as chairman of the senate armed services committee. >> that defense secretary james mattis moments ago adding his voice to the tributes and remembrances pouring in for senator john mccain. it comes after president trump changed gears to honor the american hero. let's go live to jeremy diamond at the white house. there are events honoring the life of senator mccain this week. who do we expect to go in the

place of the president? >> it was john mccain's wish for the president not to attend his funeral services. the president is honoring that wish. instead, sending some of his top officials to attend the various memorial and funeral services in john mccain's honor this week. the vice-president, mike pence, he will address a ceremony on friday where senator mccain will be lying in state. the president also sending chief of staff john kelly, defense secretary jim mattis and john bolton to a tend other services in mccain's honor on saturday. the senator will have a memorial service in his honor at the national cathedral in washington. on sunday, a private burial ceremony at the u.s. naval academy where senator mccain will be laid to rest. the president not attending any of those services. but he did yesterday offer a belated tribute to senator mccain saying in a brief statement that he ex--

expressing his respect for the senator's service to the country, that came nearly 48 hours after senator mccain passed away. the president initially refused to release a lengthy statement honoring senator mccain's service to the united states. he was urged yesterday in particular by several senior officials to release a statement. one source familiar with the matter tells me this morning that white house press secretary sarah sanders, john kelly, were particularly effective in urging the president to release this statement yesterday saying that the president respects mccain's service. they were instrumental to that decision. now it seems the country can move forward with honoring senator mccain's service and his legacy to this country. >> thank you for that report. senator mccain penned a final letter to the american people before his death on saturday. he expressed hope that his beloved country would emerge from its current trials stronger

than before. his message read aloud by his longtime friend and aid rick davis. >> we weaken when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down. when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been. >> joining me to discuss this is john shadding. first your reaction to that extraordinary moment to hear senator mccain's final message to the nation. what stood out to you the most? >> i think this is a time to recognize an american hero. if we want this country to be better, if we want it to achieve a kind of higher calling, as

senator mccain said in those final words, then we need to recognize american heroes. john mccain was certainly an american hero. he was an american icon. he is a gentleman who by whatever measure, whether during his military service or during his congressional career, he served his country honorably. he called on others to a higher purpose just as he did there in the final words. i think we ought to be focusing on that kind of person to inspire americans and particularly young people to come and serve themselves. he exemplified everything great about america. i think people want to focus on those great things. i think that's what we should be talking about. the stories of his heroism while he was in the military, jumping out of an airplane where the carrier was on fire and his plane could have exploded. instead of running for cover, he runs to a sail esailor on the dd

helps fight the fire. heroism at that young age and service to country throughout his life. if you think about john mccain, he is summed up in three words, duty, honor, country. that was his creed. it was the creed of a guy who came from service to the country. his father and his grandfather were not men of wealth but men of service to the country. i think this is a moment in which we can all be inspired by the likes of john mccain. there have been great people like john mccain in the past. the nation is built on them and their sacrifice and their devotion. >> one of the most powerful lines in that speech was when rick davis read the line where he said, we weaken it when we hide behind walls rather than tear them down. do you hear that as a criticism

of the current president? >> i really think this is about john mccain's view of the world, which was to look for the positive. in 2008, he helped him in his presidential race. in 2008, the theme of that campaign was that all of us, young people and all americans, should at some point in our lives think about giving ourselves to a cause greater than ourselves. that was one of his themes. in those words about tearing down walls, he wasn't talking about politics. he was talking about walls between people. he had great friendships with ted kennedy, not somebody of his same philosophical stripe. the former vice-president will be here to speak at his service. opposite parties. he talked in the remarks about the fact that we have so much more pulling us together as americans than tearing us apart. i think that's the message that this week gives us an opportunity to focus on, the message of people who rise above

it. he could get into a slug-fest. he said a fight avoided is a fight not enjoyed. that's the kind of battle for what you believe in spirit that exemplifiy eied john mccain and me come to admire him immensely. >> lihis seat is open. your name is reported for being under consideration. have you talked to the governor or anyone else about the potential of you replacing senator mccain? >> you can ask it. i can tell you my answer. i have no comment. i don't think that's the topic. the governor set the tone. this week is about john mccain and his service. in my office yesterday, a woman on the staff who runs a functional part of the office came to me -- sent me an e-mail first and said -- she expressed her sympathy at my loss of john mccain and then talked about her

loss. then she came up to my office. we chatted. she said she had met senator mccain once in her life. it was a random meeting in downtown phoenix. he literally stopped and spoke with her and talked to a small group. she was stunned at how much time he gave them, how he answered their questions and the respect he paid to them. that's what we need to be focusing on right now. that's the message that young people in america i think need to hear right now. they need to know more about american icons, idealistic people like john mccain who call us all to a higher place. ronald reagan did that. john mccain did that. >> thank you so much for your perspective. we appreciate you joining us. >> my pleasure. still to come, the republican fight to fill the seat of retiring arizona senator jeff flake. the candidates running toward president trump, but the president has yet to make an endorsement. we will have the latest on that race next.

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you don't have to say i'm your best friend. that's okay. it's primary day for two states. there are several fascinating races to watch, especially in arizona. three republicans are battling

it out to claim the seat being vacated by jeff flake. martha mcsally is going up against dr. kelly ward and joe arpaio. this bruising race is coming down to the wire with just over two months before the november midterms. here to talk about it, former communications director for ted cruz, alice stewart, and ned ryan. alice, this, of course, is senator flake's seat. but it's john mccain casting a shadow over the primary. mcsally has been careful to even talk about senator mccain. she has been moving closer to president trump. what do you make of the fine line that she's trying to walk in. >> she's walking the line of where the polls are indicating you should be walking. all three of the candidates here are really showing that they are strong on immigration and in

line with trump on many issues. she has a record that has been used against her. on a positive note, she's a little bit more moderate. we will have the two a little bit further to the right with kelly ward and sheriff arpaio. if this gets close between what is seen as the top two candidates, it's in my view more favorable for mcsally. >> to alice's point, the republican party moving closer to the trump wing of the party. when you look at the demographics in arizona, they are changing. president trump did win but only by three points. do you think this is a good idea for republican candidates to move and associate themselves closer to president trump as we head toward the general election? >> of course, i mean, to win a

primary when trump has 90% approval rating with republican voters, i think it would be a mistake to not align yourself at some level with donald trump. i would reiterate what alice has said. i think mcsally is in the driver's seat. i think arpaio is undercutting ward. i don't think there's going to be a close race. the last poll showed mcsally up by 20 point points. i think ward's comments have been damaging. i don't see this being close. i think in some ways it's encouraging. i don't think we will have another re-run of alabama where we might put up a heavily flawed candidate. i think the democrat candidate is too far left. i think that benefits. i think mcsally will have appeal among more of the independent voters. this is not a slam dunk for the democrats. it's going to be closer in the fall than people think.

>> to ned's point, kelly ward had cleaning up to do. she had a social media post that implied the mccain family's announcement that the senator was stopping treatment was timed to kroeovershadow her campaign event. >> to be clear, my comments were in no way directed at senator mccain or at his family or his team. my comments were in reference to the media. a lot of you know i have been critical of the media. not as critical as the president and the media might hope for a narrative that would hinder the momentum of our campaign. >> she's blaming the media. jeff flake, who she's running to replace, told reporters that he would be surprised if ward was rewarded at the ballot box for these comments. what do you think? >> that's what you call cleanup on aisle four. she made a mistake. it was a terrible thing to say. it was very poor timing and

certainly ill-advised. it clearly, what she said over the weekend, speaks for itself. we knew what she meant to say. that being said, so close to the election, a lot of people have voted. it will be -- remains to be seen whether or not it will impact the overall outcome of the vote. clearly, it was not something that should have been said, certainly given the respect we have for senator mccain. >> we are in the 11th hour here. president trump is yet to weigh in on this race. he is close with joe arpaio. martha mcsally has been positive about the president. is there any chance we may see a tweet from president trump about this race? do you think he is going to stay out of it ? >> i think he stays out of it. i think the dye has been cast to a certain extent. again, i don't think this is a close race. he does well to 12stay out of i. they will probably vote forward and arpaio.

i don't think he gains anything by doing anything in the 11th hour. i think he was very smart to endorse in the florida race which is on tonight. i think that's going to be the difference in that race. >> that opens the door to talk about florida. the president did endorse in that republican primary, supporting desantis. he has been a defender of trump. how big of a role do you think the endorsement will be in florida? >> i think it will be big. he won florida by a little over one point. that being said, his approval rating in the state is pretty high. as my work is, if you want to win a primary as a republican, you get on fox news. desantis has been all over fox news. certainly having that nod from trump was icing on the cake. >> another busy night in politics. ned, quickly.

>> i would point out, before the trump endorsement, desantis was down double digits. i gotta tell you, i don't think the race is going to be close. the last poll showed him up 12 points. this is a referendum on where the party is going. it's not going to reward an old status candidate. >> predicting an early night. we will see if you are correct. thank you. president trump claiming a new working -- a new enemy is working against him. this time, it's google. why the president thinks the world's largest search engine is rigged and why google says that's just not true. that's coming up. so you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop, 24/7 tech support. yep, thanks guys. i think he might need some support. yes.

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the president claims that the world's largest largest search engine is rigged against him in the preside him. the president said google manipulates search results so all the news related to him is bad. he also claimed conservative media is shut out, saying google is suppressing voices and hiding information and news that is good. they are controlling what we can and cannot see. this is a very serious situation, will be addressed. a short time ago, google issued a statement in response to the president's accusations that says in part, search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology. we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment. joining me to discuss this, cnn politics reporter and editor at large chris cillizza. a lot to unpack here. i wonder what you think the president means by this is a

very serious situation that will be addressed. what could he possibly mean? >> well, he could have someone within his administration try to look into it. the difficult thing is that google's algorithm, which produces when you type in a search or the news tab looking for trump news or any kind of news, the algorithm that produces what you get, number one, is personalized to you, what ryan nobles gets and what chris cillizza gets isn't the same thing. and it's also secret. google keeps it secret. many people have written about it. we know there are certain things that sway it. a number of people linking to a story, prominence of the publication which has published it. we don't know the whole thing. i don't know how donald trump would extract the whole thing from google. >> our search results may not be that different. >> sports and dad questions. >> yes, exactly.

i also want to play this for you. chief economic adviser larry kudlow told bloomberg the white house is looking into whether google suppresses positive articles about the president. he expanded on that this morning. this is what he said. >> we're going to do some investigation and some analysis. that's what we do. >> is there any evidence they are actually censoring search results? >> we're looking into it. other questions? >> does it seem like he even knows what the president is looking for here? >> no, and honestly, i'll go back to my dad analogy, ryan. it's like when my son asks if he can have a second $200 baseball bat. i give him the, i'll look into it. i'm not -- hint, i'm not actually looking into it. what's larry kudlow going to say? donald trump just tweeted this because he saw it on cable news. you know, he can't say that, so he's saying what he can. i'd be very surprised if looking into it means anything other than just saying we're looking into it.

>> right. all right. chris cillizza, hopefully your son not watching today. thank you, chris. >> thank you, sir. >> we're going to be right back. we have new details on the manafort trial. stay here. we'll have that in a second. liberty mutual saved us almost $800

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and breaking news just into the cnn newsroom. a federal judge has delayed the start of the second trial of

former trump campaign chairman paul manafort. cnn's shimon prokupecz is here with the latest. >> that's right, ryan. the judge just ruling a short time ago that they're going to delay the start of opening statements essentially for a week. it was supposed to begin on september 17th. now the judge ruling that it can begin on september 24th. that is the opening statements. they're going to begin jury selection on september 17th. the defense, again, as they did in the first trial here, asking for a delay. they say they need a little extra time to prepare. so the judge there granting their request. so really, just it will be about a week or so. jury selection is supposed to be very quick in this case. so once that's over, the attorneys here, the defense attorneys will have some time, some extra time to prepare for the trial. >> also some other news coming out of the courtroom today, shimon, about the role that paul manafort played for president trump and that it potentially won't come up in this second

trial. what do you know about that? >> yet again, as we saw in the first trial, ryan, the defense attorneys asking that they not -- that the issue of donald trump and his work for the campaign not come up during the trial. of course, they had asked for that in the first case as well. the judge granted that ruling. now again they asked for the same thing here. of course, the concern from everything we know has always been that perhaps maybe there could be some jurors who would view manafort's work for the trump campaign negatively, and the defense attorneys have always been worried about this. it didn't seem to have really a huge effect in the first trial, as we know. there were some pro-trump jurors. one of them had spoken out in that trial, but nonetheless, the defense attorneys here continue to have that concern, and they do not want that coming up at the trial, ryan. >> all right. shimon prokupecz with that breaking news that paul manafort's second trial has been delayed. shimon, thank you so much for that update.

and thank you for joining me. "inside politics" with dana bash starts right now. welcome to "inside politics." i'm dana bash. john king has the day off. behind closed doors right now, a justice department official that the president called a creep and a disgrace is getting grilled on capitol hill for his role in the russia investigation. plus, north korea warns the trump administration denuclearization talks could fall apart. and former cia chief general david petraeus sits down for a rare interview and shares what he'll remember most about john mccain. >> i'd been confirmed to go to iraq to command the surge. my aide handed me the phone and said senator mccain wants to talk to you. i thought this was going to be